The company bearing responsibility for the Appiatsei disaster Maxam Ghana Limited has fingered a logistics transportation company, Arthanns Transport Services as the entity to blame for the sad incident.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Jinapor yesterday February 8 2022 issued a statement announcing that it has fined Maxam $1million for “regulatory breaches in respect of the Manufacture, storage and transportation of explosives for mining and other civil works”.
Samuel Jinapor said the payment of the fine is a condition precedent for the restoration Maxam’s permit to manufacture, store, supply and/or transport explosives.
The minister further indicated that Maxam had agreed to pay an extra $5million to Ghana over the next 18 months beginning 1 March 2022 at US$277,777.78 a month.
In a sharp response, Maxam said it cannot be blamed for the incident as “none of these breaches were the cause of the tragic road accident.”
According to Maxam, all of the breaches “relate to the transport carried out by Arthaans Logistics.”
“Based on a different interpretation of the applicable regulations, we believe that Maxam has not committed any of those breaches.”
Despite the refusal to accept culpability, Maxam says it has decided to pay the $1million fine and comply with the ministry’s measures “to ensure the continuity of the business, to be able to supply our customers, to protect the employment of our workers and sub-contractors.”
The stance taken by Maxam has been backed by US based mining engineer Dr. Solomon Owusu who alleges a calculated effort to cover up Arthanns.
He told Sena Nombo on the Gold Power Drive, the opinion that Arthanns should face culpability for the accident as it was responsible for the transportation.
The Minister for Lands in his statement said “regulatory breaches and possible sanctions against Jocydek Logistics Limited and Arthanns Enterprise and Transport Service, the two entities involved in this tragic incident, are being reviewed, and will be applied and communicated in due course.”
Story: Sena Nombo/Radiogoldlive.com
